Portland’s Radical Facial Recognition Proposal Bans the Tech From Airbnbs, Restaurants, Stores, and More
The ban does not apply to Portland’s public schools, however
After eight months of speculation, details are finally emerging about Portland, Oregon’s groundbreaking legislation that would ban facial recognition in privately owned businesses and spaces accessible to the public.
The law would prohibit the use of facial recognition technologies at stores, banks, Airbnb rentals, restaurants, entertainment venues, public transit stations, homeless shelters, senior centers, services like law or doctors’ offices, and a variety of other types of businesses. And it would allow people to sue noncompliant private entities for damages.
“From our knowledge, Portland is the first city that proposes a regulation of private use of face recognition technologies,” Hector Dominguez, open data coordinator at Smart City PDX, the city’s data equity advisory group overseeing drafting of the facial recognition ordinances told OneZero.
Portland City Council Commissioners will vote on August 13 on two facial recognition ordinances, both currently still in draft form and open for public comment. One would outlaw use of the technology by the city of Portland government bureaus including law enforcement, adding Portland to a growing list of U.S. cities that have prohibited government and police forces from using facial recognition, including San Francisco, Oakland, and Boston.
“From our knowledge, Portland is the first city that proposes a regulation of private use of face recognition technologies.”
The other would establish a new chapter of city code prohibiting the use of facial recognition in places of public accommodation by private entities.
Passage of the government use ban would set in motion plans to create broader-reaching policy addressing surveillance systems that gather voice, visual, location, or biometric data.
“What I appreciate about the current draft proposal is that it will serve as a starting off point, creating the pillars to build out more robust and responsive…
